Rep. Castro touts immigration reform bill

By Drew Joseph :
July 2, 2013

U.S. Rep. Joaquín Castro sought to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform in San Antonio Tuesday but acknowledged there are some “bitter pills” related to border security in the bill that Democrats will have to swallow if it is to pass.

“The bill is a bipartisan bill - it accounts for the political reality in Washington, D.C.,” the San Antonio Democrat said, referring to a bill recently passed by the Senate that the House has yet to take up. “Many of the provisions are not provisions Democrats are in love with ... but I think it was the best compromise the Senate could come up with.”

Over the weekend, Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, resigned from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to protest its members' embrace of the Senate bill, which includes new border fencing, drones and border agents.

Castro was in the district Tuesday to host a screening of the short documentary film “The Dream Is Now,” which spotlights four “dreamers” - people who were brought to the United States when they were young and do not qualify for citizenship. The film also calls on Congress to reform the immigration system.

He said in an interview before the screening that some advocacy groups and constituents are concerned about what critics call the militarization of the border, but that any reform bill must boost border security if it is to pass.

Following the screening, Castro told the crowd San Antonio is a city that cares deeply about comprehensive immigration reform. The people here know people who are undocumented and see them at school, in church and around town.

“They are folks that live among us that are just like us,” he said.

The crowd was full of people who supported reform efforts, and most of the questions for Castro after the screening focused on what people could do to help get the House to pass a bill. But one man asked about what he said were “some of the sacrifices we'll have to swallow” in terms of border security.

Castro said many Democrats have concerns about the border security components of the bill, but that they were necessary pieces to gain bipartisan support. He also called on supporters to come to Washington for an upcoming push for the bill to counter its vocal critics.

“There are a lot of folks against this, mostly on the right, who are very loud,” he said.